The Buyer’s Guide To A Dance Music Setup

Welcome to our new feature in the MusicTech Essential Guide, where we choose a starter studio for a specific task or budget. This time, everything you need for your first dance music setup… Headphones A decent set of ’phones is crucial to any dance setup. Here are four great ones that we’ve reviewed in MusicTech recently… […]

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Welcome to our new feature in the MusicTech Essential Guide, where we choose a starter studio for a specific task or budget. This time, everything you need for your first dance music setup…

dance music

Headphones

A decent set of ’phones is crucial to any dance setup. Here are four great ones that we’ve reviewed in MusicTech recently…

Audio Technica ATH-M70x
Price £299
Contact
0113 277 1441
Web eu.audio-technica.com/en
We said: “Accurate and great for long sessions – not a common combination – so perfect for mixing.”

Beyerdynamic DT 1990
Price €599
Contact Polar Audio 01444 258258
Web www.polaraudio.co.uk
We said: “If you want streamlined listening, these are as good as it gets.”

Fostex TR Series
Price £155
Contact SCV London 0330 122 2500
Web www.scvdistribution.co.uk
We said: “Magnificent, dynamic… Our new go-to ’phone choice for music listening.”

Yamaha HPH-MT8
Price £170 (street)
Contact Yamaha 0844 811 1116
Web www.yamahaproaudio.com
We said: “These ’phones stand up to models that cost a lot more – a great buy.”

Synth

You want to make electronic dance music? You need a great synth. Here are four, both hard and soft…

KV331 Synthmaster
Price $129 to $379
Contact +90 312 265 0558
Web www.synthmaster.com
We said: “It really does an incredible amount and in a no-nonsense, almost calm way. Truly a master of synths.”

Korg monologue
Price £299
Contact Korg UK 01908 304600
Web www.korg.com
We said: “A cracking little mono monster and it’d be a bargain at twice the price.”

Roland System-8
Price £1,239
Contact Roland 01792 702701
Web www.roland.co.uk
We said: “Great to use, and a very powerful and well-equipped pro-level synthesiser.”

DSI OB-6
Price £2,500 (street)
Contact via website
Web www.davesmithinstruments.com
We said: “Expensive, but at every turn, it inspires new riffs and complete tunes and, when all is said and done, you can’t ask for more than that.”

Control and beats

Hardware controllers like these are great for sampling, beat-making and loop production – ideal for dance music, then…

Ableton Push 2
Price £499
Contact via website
Web www.ableton.com
We said: “An incredible controller that feels like an instrument, with out-of-the-box functionality that nobody else can match.”

NI Maschine Studio
Price £629 (street)
Contact 0207 9207500
Web www.native-instruments.com
We said: “Maschine Studio offers a true ‘hardware experience’ with all of the advantages that software brings.”

Pioneer Toraiz SP-16
Price £1,389 (street)
Contact via website
Web www.pioneerdj.com
We said: “Hardware sequencing and sampling, and an analogue filter, c’mon… We love it, how could you not?”

Akai MPC Live
Price £999
Contact Akai or inMusic via website
Web www.akaipro.com
We said: “Enough power in here to create complete tunes easily – and it’s great for computer-less music production.”

DAW

The DAW is key to your dance-production setup. Here are four with a distinctly electronic and loopy flavour…

Reason
Price £49 to £289
Contact via website
Web www.propellerhead.se
We said: “We strongly recommend Reason to anyone who’s getting into electronic music production.”

FL Studio
Price $89 to $189
Contact via website
Web www.image-line.com
We said: “If you’re into electronic or loop-based music, FL Studio offers everything you need.”

Korg Gadget
Price £19.99
Contact via website
Web www.korg.com
We said: “Probably the best music-making app on iOS. Amazing!.”

Ableton Live
Price €79 to €599
Contact via website
Web
www.ableton.com
We said: “Live is still the most instant cross-platform DAW on the market. Other DAW manufacturers should take note.”

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